AutoAlign

[Baldrik]

Hi all !

I've been toying with the idea of moving to one of the Meade LX200 series with their Auto Align.

How good is the Auto Align feature ? How close does it come to selecting the first star for the aligning process ?

Is it just a matter of leveling the scope, turning it on and stand back ?

All experience/impressions appreciated. :)

Thanks
B

[AndrewJ]

The auto align is reasonable, but (IMHO) gimmicky and slow.
The magnetic sensor used can be affected by lots of things.
It can be calibrated, but it still changes based on whats near the scope.
That said, just setting the scope base flat and the tube Nth and level, then doing a manual 2 star will have you aligned and running in about 1/4 the time.

Andrew

[Barrykgerdes]

I agree with Andrew
The Auto align is "iffy" it relies on a magnetic north senser calibrated for your location and a rolling ball level sensor. This can get you into the ball park after calibration but will probably need recalibration every time you move. You will still need the rest of a two star alignment for successful "gotos"

I always found the easiest and quickest way to get the telescope aligned in Alt/azm was to level the base then th OTA, point the telescope north and ask the telescope to find the alignment stars. This is normally close enough to identify the star and place it in the centre of the eyepiece as the first star in the alignment. Do the same with second alignment star and the alignment is complete. In the same period of time the auto align will probably have just finished finding magnetic north and be starting the OTA leveling process.

Barry

[roughy]

I agree with Barry and Andrew. The LX200 setup in Alt/AZ with a two star alignment is very quick and very accurate for visual observing. AutoAlign is unecessary.

Mark

[wayne anderson]

I have found that the auto align always places the align stars within the field of view of the finderscope with only a small adjustment to bring it to the center however often the align star it chooses is behind a tree or the neighbors house and you need to get it to go to the next align star which is often also behind something else, this can become a frustrating waste of time so manual 2 star align is much easier.

[Baldrik]

Thanks very much for your feedback guys. Being a bit on the lazy side this sort of option has some appeal ;). I'm currently using a EQ5 Pro and the alignment can be at times something of a black art - probably me.

You've given me much to consider. Thanks again !:)